Russia's Top Diplomat Rejects Security Guarantees For Ukraine: 'Meant To Preserve Zelenskyy Regime'

Last Updated:January 30, 2026, 09:21 IST

Lavrov rejected the deal between the US and Ukraine on security guarantees, saying they were aimed at preserving the Zelenskyy regime rather than ensuring lasting peace.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed scepticism of the security guarantees for Ukraine. (IMAGE: REUTERS)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday rejected an agreement between the United States and Ukraine for security guarantees for Kyiv, a central condition for the proposed Russia-Ukraine peace deal, saying the guarantees were aimed at preserving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s regime.

Zelenskyy had said that a US document on security guarantees for Ukraine was “100% ready" and Kyiv is now awaiting a time and place for it to be signed. “For us, security guarantees are first and foremost guarantees of security from the United States," he said on Sunday.

However, Lavrov rejected the deal on security guarantees, expressing scepticism that they will ensure lasting peace. “We are unaware of the guarantees they were discussing, but judging by everything, these were guarantees to the very Ukrainian regime that pursues a Russophobic, neo-Nazi policy," he told reporters.

“If the goal is to preserve this regime on some part of the territory of former Ukraine and to continue using it as a bulwark for threats against the Russian Federation, then it should be obvious that such ‘security guarantees’ are hardly capable of ensuring genuine security," he said.

His remarks came after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday that “you could argue" that the guarantees “are agreed to from our side of the equation."

Last weekend, Washington-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi renewed efforts to clinch a peace deal, but differences persisted between the Russian and Ukrainian negotiating stances.

In the past, Moscow has insisted that it must be part of any security framework for Ukraine, potentially giving it a veto over any response to Russian violations. In addition to security guarantees, the issue of territory is also a major sticky point in peace talks.

ALSO READ: ‘It Was Very Nice’: Trump Says Putin Agreed Not To Attack Kyiv For A Week

Trump Says Putin Agreed Not To Fire

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to halt attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities for a week, after Moscow’s strikes left millions without electricity in temperatures far below zero.

“They’ve never experienced cold like that. And I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week. And he agreed to do that, and I have to tell you, it was very nice," Trump said at a Cabinet meeting, citing “extraordinary cold" in the region.

Russia Invites Zelenskyy For Talks

Additionally, Russia said it has sent an invitation for Zelenskyy to come to Moscow for peace talks. The development came as the US-led efforts intensified to reach a deal to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine.

An unnamed US official told Axios on Saturday that Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin were “very close" to setting up a meeting after the US-mediated talks. Zelenskyy rejected a similar invitation last year, saying he could not to go to the capital of a nation that was firing missiles at his country every day. He suggested at the time that Putin come to Kyiv instead.

(with inputs from agencies)

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